Photos: Mares vs Morel, Moreno vs De La Mora in Texas

El PASO, Texas – Abner Mares has power, he has speed, and now he has a second world championship belt. Mares, the 26-year-old undefeated Mexican American from Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., by way of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, captured the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship with an emphatic victory over game veteran Eric Morel on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. Photos by Tom Hogan/Hogan Photos and Tom Casino/Showtime.

In the co-feature, Anselmo Moreno, the slick and talented Panamanian world champion, cruised to victory over David de la Mora with a ninth-round technical knockout.

Mares, who recently vacated the IBF bantamweight title, brought considerable power up to 122 pounds and seemed to sacrifice none of his hand speed. Morel, 10 years Mares’ senior, is a veteran of nine world title fights and a former two-time world champion. Morel admitted coming into the fight that this could be his last shot at one of boxing’s crowns. The Puerto Rico native, now living and fighting out of Madison, Wisconsin, came to win, but Mares’ confidence and ability won the night.

Fighting aggressively for every minute of every round, Mares dominated from the early going with a damaging body attack. He moved fluidly from the body to the head, stunning Morel on several occasions.

What Morel gave up in age, he made up for in heart. Morel withstood the punishment dolled out by the younger Mares. He gave a valiant effort right through the final two rounds, making the 11th and 12th the two most exciting and competitive of the bout.

The judges had it unanimously for Mares by scores of 120-107 and 119-109 twice. The young star improved his record to 24-0-1 (13 KO’s) and is looking for his next challenge - a fight with the super bantamweight division’s elite.

Moreno used his superior reach and defense to dispatch De La Mora, who retired after the 8th round. De La Mora went down twice in the fight - in the second and sixth rounds - both times from vicious body punches. According to SHOStats, over his last five fights, Moreno’s defense has been hit with just 17-percent of his opponents’ punches - second only to Floyd Mayweather. Moreno improved his record to 33-1-1 adding a 12th knockout.